NCAA Football Odds: North Carolina preview

TJ Yates must improve on last season’s 14/15 TD to INT ratio.

With the college football season less than a month away from kicking off, there are plenty of questions surrounding the North Carolina program.  The Tar Heels are still waiting the NCAA’s ruling concerning its investigation involving improper contact with sports agents.

How quickly this issue is resolved and to what degree will determine North Carolina’s path in 2010.  The Tar Heels finished the 2009 campaign with an 8-5 record that included a 4-4 ledger in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division, concluding with a loss to Pittsburgh in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

North Carolina is currently listed at 75/1 odds to win the national championship, the same college football odds assigned to Pittsburgh, Clemson, Auburn, Florida State, Washington, Notre Dame, Oregon State, West Virginia, Cincinnati and South Carolina.  Now the program must deal with the lingering black cloud that will most likely include team sanctions.

The probe is focusing on assistant coach John Blake and his relationship with NFL agent Gary Wichard.  Blake is currently North Carolina’s defensive line coach, and he oversees All-ACC tackle Marvin Austin.  Blake worked at one time at Pro Tect Management, a company founded and run by Wichard for over 30 years.

Whatever sanctions the NCAA deals the Tar Heels, head coach Butch Davis’s team will have to deal with Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Miami in ACC’s stacked Coastal Division.

North Carolina was led by its defense last season, ranking an impressive seventh in the country for points against by allowing an average of just 17.1 points per contest.  Returning to the mix regardless of the Austin outcome is talented defensive end Robert Quinn along with linebackers Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter.

The real problem facing the team was an offense that ranked 79th in rushing yards (132.8), 102nd in passing yards (174.9) and 87th in points scored (23.8).  The Tar Heels do return 10 starters, and that should help the team improve some of those dismal numbers.

Signal caller T.J. Yates enters the season with 31 career starts, but he struggled last year by tossing more interceptions (15) than touchdowns (14).  The running game might be in worse shape due to a couple of factors.  North Carolina does return the backfield combo of Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston, but highly touted freshman Gio Bernard will miss the season due to a knee injury.  The only starter not returning is offensive tackle Kyle Jolly, who was the team’s most experienced player in the trenches.

The Tar Heels face a tough test to open the season September 4 against Louisiana State in Atlanta, and they are presently listed as a 1 ½-point underdog.  There is a bye week following that contest before North Carolina hosts Georgia Tech in the conference opener for both teams. 

The Tar Heels face a tough road schedule this year, traveling to Rutgers Sept. 25 along with conference clashes at Miami Oct. 23 and Florida State Nov. 6.  North Carolina hopes to finish the season strong with home games against Virginia Tech and North Carolina State followed by the season finale at Duke.